tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post6568490461602112353..comments2020-06-06T23:30:55.392-04:00Comments on What's Alan Watching?: Conan O'Brien 'Tonight Show' drama dominated press tour - Sepinwall on TVAlan Sepinwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388147774725646742noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-24840949063438293852010-01-24T17:23:53.196-05:002010-01-24T17:23:53.196-05:00@ Dave T
Several critics have noted that Jeff Gas...@ Dave T<br /><br />Several critics have noted that Jeff Gaspin said that the compromise between Leno and O&#39;Brien was that what was important to Leno was that he be able to tell jokes at 11:30 and what was important O&#39;Brien was that he be able to host the tonight show. What is most interesting is this: NBC Moves Johnny Carson Starting Time by 5 Minutes (http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/22/news/nbc-moves-johnny-carson-starting-time-by-5-minutes.html) given O&#39;Brien&#39;s acrimony over the Tonight Show moveTausif Khannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-70658925366912053402010-01-22T13:13:35.433-05:002010-01-22T13:13:35.433-05:00I don&#39;t know where you got the idea that Lette...<i>I don&#39;t know where you got the idea that Letterman forced Snyder out of a job.</i><br /><br />Tom Snyder repeatedly recounted about having been called in and told &quot;we just signed a deal with Letterman,&quot; and he was out. <br /><br />In the ensuing years, when expressing indifference to the idea that something he was saying could offend someone, he usually dismissed any concern with &quot;What are they gonna do to me? Cancel The Tomorrow Show?&quot;<br /><br />(Actually, with Johnny’s insistence on creating “Carson Productions” and control of 12:30, he may have had more to do with ousting Snyder.)<br /><br /><br /><i>it was well known that Johnny Carson wished that David Letterman would be his successor</i> <br /><br />He&#39;s entitled to his opinion, but it wasn&#39;t his decision to make. <br /><br />Letterman probably <i>should</i> have been chosen, with Jay (then, a frequent Letterman guest) installed at 12:30, but NBC was afraid Jay would instead go to CBS for an 11:30 show. Business decisions (and in particular, SHOW business decisions) aren’t always about seniority, and they’re not about who’s paid more “dues.”<br /><br />The lesson not learned, then or now, is that with 2 hosts and one spot, they&#39;re going to lose one of them no matter what they do. <br /><br /><br /><i>(Leno) started arguing to be put back at his old job.</i><br /><br />Did he? There&#39;s been a lot of accusations made, but they seem to be based more on assumption than evidence.<br /><br />He made some rumblings about having been happy at 11:30, and when <i>asked</i>, he did say he wanted to be back at 11:30, but did he <i>actively</i> push for that?<br /><br />I don&#39;t think Jay, with a top-rated show, should ever have been moved out of that slot, but once that happened, NBC owed it to Conan to give him what he reasonably expected: sufficient time, and the benefit of decent lead-ins. While “Jay at 10” may have met NBC&#39;s financial goals for that hour, it was having a negative effect on the affiliates and on the rest of lineup. Conan didn’t warrant enough blame as to be fired so quickly.Dave Tnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-40789744635331841102010-01-21T23:17:31.838-05:002010-01-21T23:17:31.838-05:00@ Mark Russell
I agree with you. Ferguson is sho...@ Mark Russell<br /><br />I agree with you. Ferguson is showing a certain level of class. Though, I find it hard to lay blame on Conan. One, I&#39;m a fan. Two, he&#39;s the victim.<br /><br /><br />To the poster complaining about this why contribute at all? Your logic is backwards. You shouldn&#39;t have clicked the link to post.Tyro.k.yhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05357669429570794640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-48920111539267427382010-01-21T11:18:01.316-05:002010-01-21T11:18:01.316-05:00@Dave T
Leno is not completely at fault with the ...@Dave T<br /><br />Leno is not completely at fault with the O&#39;Brien decision. A corporate decision was made to originally move him. However, he said at the time that he did not want to happen what happened in 1992. However, when his talk show had failed and was canceled. He did not retire (as he has said that he did not want to do a talk show in his 60s). He started arguing to be put back at his old job. This is where I have a problem with Leno. As Jimmy Kimmel said quote Jay from his 2004 resignation all Jay has to do is take care of cars while O&#39;Brien has children. O&#39;Brien and his staff will be fine so I am not too worried. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118014097.html?categoryid=14&amp;ref=ra&amp;cs=1)<br /><br />In terms of their humor. Leno is more of a traditional comedian and I found him funny when I was in high school. O&#39;Brien is an acquired taste. Jimmy Fallon is new and finding his voice but he isn&#39;t doing anything interesting although he could not have a better house band in The Roots. Jimmy Kimmel has had the best take on this late night fiasco. Letterman is better insights. Ferguson I like the most as his monologues are off the cuff and interviews organic. So besides Jon Stewart Ferguson is my man.Tausif Khannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-5104349747156521492010-01-21T11:17:35.568-05:002010-01-21T11:17:35.568-05:00@ Dave T
I don&#39;t know where you got the idea...@ Dave T<br /> <br />I don&#39;t know where you got the idea that Letterman forced Snyder out of a job. According to the wikipedia entry NBC was changing formats which Snyder did not like and the show was canceled. Then Letterman was brought in.<br /><br />In terms of The Tonight Show it was well known that Johnny Carson wished that David Letterman would be his successor to the point where he submitted jokes and appeared on Letterman&#39;s show while never appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.(http://pqarchiver.nypost.com/nypost/access/781543221.html?dids=781543221:781543221&amp;FMT=ABS&amp;FMTS=ABS:FT&amp;date=Jan+20%2C+2005&amp;author=Post+Wire+Services&amp;pub=New+York+Post&amp;edition=&amp;startpage=102&amp;desc=CARSON+FEEDS+LETTERMAN+LINES)Tausif Khannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-14835956743781203562010-01-20T18:54:18.414-05:002010-01-20T18:54:18.414-05:00Am I the only one who thinks that Craig Ferguson c...Am I the only one who thinks that Craig Ferguson comes out of all this looking the best of all the late-night hosts? He seems utterly embarrassed by it all. Of all the late night hosts, I could totally picture him becoming a real institution, just doing what he is doing for years.Mark Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04471178281396296314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-49044339998513570742010-01-20T18:31:19.032-05:002010-01-20T18:31:19.032-05:00Conan seems to be getting a new life with this con...Conan seems to be getting a new life with this controversy. It&#39;s on NBC, bottom line. They wanted him to stay, they made the five year deal, they made the idiotic move with Leno.<br /><br />Leno is a real stone bore to me and has been for a long time. Except his behavior has produced some of the funniest reactions I&#39;ve seen in years.<br /><br />Letterman absolutely destroyed Leno last night on the &quot;Don&#39;t blame Conan&quot; blather from Leno. And looked like he was having the time of his life. <br />But on the other hand, I love NBC&#39;s comedies. I hope they get some help despite these executives morons.Allison DeWittnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-10500411350420059382010-01-20T17:55:33.579-05:002010-01-20T17:55:33.579-05:00Also, what will happen to The Wanda Sykes Show on ...<i>Also, what will happen to The Wanda Sykes Show on Fox given that they were trying to see if it would be able to compete with weeknight late night competition and that Conan is most likely going to move his show to Fox?</i><br /><br />Wanda&#39;s show is only on Saturdays. Not sure how it&#39;s doing on Saturdays against SNL is an indicator of how it would do on weeknights against Dave &amp; co., but then again, these are TV execs we&#39;re talking about.deznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-39309219247311682042010-01-20T17:05:55.894-05:002010-01-20T17:05:55.894-05:00&lt;&lt; didn&#39;t David Letterman hire Tom Snyde...&lt;&lt; didn&#39;t David Letterman hire Tom Snyder to host The Late Late Show (which Craig Ferguson now hosts) a show which Letterman personally owns?&gt;&gt;<br /><br />I guess that means if Leno hires Conan 12 years from now, you&#39;ll be OK with this.Dave Tnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-9708302459315585822010-01-20T16:02:54.070-05:002010-01-20T16:02:54.070-05:00Gosh, I just found it nice to know that there was ...Gosh, I just found it nice to know that there was other stuff going on at the death march with cocktails. I mean, seriously, I don&#39;t begrudge anyone&#39;s fascination with Leno/O&#39;Brien, but a week from now this will all be over and forgotten. The final season of <em>Lost</em>, the (sometime, soon maybe, whenever) airing of <em>Boardwalk Empire</em>, a whole bunch of other stuff about TV that we&#39;re all going to get to watch down the road -- that continues.<br /><br />That said, I have faith that you&#39;ll eventually pull yourself back from your news-junkie and herd-mentality fixation and get back to telling us what matters about TV we&#39;re actually going to watch. <br /><br />Seriously -- can I see a show of hands? Who here is actually watching late-night TV regularly? I don&#39;t, so I&#39;m a complete voyeur as far as this whole drama is concerned. As much as I like Conan in the abstract -- hey, a former <em>Simpsons</em> writer who has a recurring character named the Masturbating Bear can do no wrong in my eyes -- I don&#39;t watch his show. If a funny bit hits, I might catch it on YouTube.<br /><br />And that&#39;s about it. It also suggests that a lot of the attention paid to this drama is misplaced. Look, I know it&#39;s irresistible -- any catfight involving real personalities and diffuse corporate entities is going to be something you can&#39;t look away from. But it&#39;s a symptom of the ongoing death of broadcast TV, and as such it&#39;s essentially trivia.<br /><br />I&#39;m totally of two minds about this, because I&#39;ve really enjoyed reading about the massive car crash, and I also think it&#39;s an incredible distraction from what&#39;s really going on in the industry. Yes, you can use it as a metaphor for a while, but the fact is that the audience is shrinking across all networks, and bullshit like what we&#39;re seeing at NBC is the natural result of execs trying to cover their asses while everything else comes apart.<br /><br />I can&#39;t help noticing that while NBC is getting pilloried in the ratings that they have some of the best shows on TV at the moment, even if they only appeal to particular niches. Here I&#39;m talking about <em>Parks and Recreation</em>, <em>The Office</em> and <em>Chuck</em>. NBC could be an awesome cable channel. Maybe that&#39;s what Comcast has in mind.EssPeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-75903324818797499742010-01-20T15:54:48.468-05:002010-01-20T15:54:48.468-05:00Bix: here is an article re: Jay&#39;s money neuros...Bix: here is an article re: Jay&#39;s money neurosis http://bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1226338Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-45837061977970252192010-01-20T15:43:14.185-05:002010-01-20T15:43:14.185-05:00@Dave T didn&#39;t David Letterman hire Tom Snyder...@Dave T didn&#39;t David Letterman hire Tom Snyder to host The Late Late Show (which Craig Ferguson now hosts) a show which Letterman personally owns?<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Snyder<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Late_Late_Show_%28CBS_TV_series%29Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-80474740117930123652010-01-20T15:31:21.630-05:002010-01-20T15:31:21.630-05:00Also, what will happen to The Wanda Sykes Show on ...Also, what will happen to The Wanda Sykes Show on Fox given that they were trying to see if it would be able to compete with weeknight late night competition and that Conan is most likely going to move his show to Fox?Tausif Khannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-79196461692654416832010-01-20T15:29:36.653-05:002010-01-20T15:29:36.653-05:00Now that Conan is leaving NBC late night does that...Now that Conan is leaving NBC late night does that mean that Carson Daly still keeps his job?Tausif Khannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-34871596811014150192010-01-20T14:19:14.647-05:002010-01-20T14:19:14.647-05:00I&#39;m seriously enjoying Letterman throughout al...I&#39;m seriously enjoying Letterman throughout all of this. He&#39;s positively giddy. <br /><br />I&#39;m not sure I buy the stories that Leno is afraid to spend money. Nope, I don&#39;t believe it for a nanosecond.LAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04868479477550590056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-80995263102023212402010-01-20T14:10:52.693-05:002010-01-20T14:10:52.693-05:00And now Conan&#39;s people are saying the crew iss...And now Conan&#39;s people are saying the crew issue was settled before everything else and their compensation is &quot;beyond appropriate&quot;<br /><br />http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/conan-obrien-report-he-stiffed-staff-%E2%80%98outrageous-lie%E2%80%99-13080Bixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03924119954199649577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-41014133695976609432010-01-20T14:06:09.752-05:002010-01-20T14:06:09.752-05:00Matt, do you have a link for the Leno money parano...Matt, do you have a link for the Leno money paranoia stuff or were you talking about the Seinfeld documentary thing? Either way, it would explain a lot.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the latest reports are that they&#39;ve come to some sort of impasse over the severance packages for the crew and the non-disparagement agreement. NBC is blaming Conan for the former and they&#39;re not wrong, but they make it sound less complicated than it really is. As far as the non-disparagement agreement, why do they even care? He&#39;s already covered a lot of it on their own network.Bixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03924119954199649577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-81038172909861354982010-01-20T12:28:43.886-05:002010-01-20T12:28:43.886-05:00Jay Leno proves that you don&#39;t have to be funn...<i>Jay Leno proves that you don&#39;t have to be funny to host a successful show at 11:35 pm.</i><br /><br />About every other post on every blog asserts &quot;Leno isn&#39;t funny&quot; as though it were an objective fact. <br /><br />It&#39;s an opinion, nothing more. <br /><br />There&#39;s a reason it&#39;s called a <i>sense</i> of humor. <br /><br />&quot;Team Coco&quot; thinks jumping around like an idiot, opening and closing the suit coat, and &quot;masturbating bear&quot; suffice for &quot;comedy.&quot; <br /><br />(I actually like Conan and think he&#39;s getting screwed -- he deserves more time -- but the pig-piling on Leno has gotten over the top.)<br /><br /><i>Could we stick a fork in NBC late night, because it&#39;s done </i><br /><br />No, because they said the same thing about Conan in his first year at 12:30, and he eventually made that show a success. <br /><br />They said it about Leno in his first year, so much so they were going to offer the show to Letterman at the end of his contract.<br /><br />Hell, they could have said that about Letterman himself, after his 1980 morning-show failure!<br /><br />So nothing&#39;s ever over.<br /><br /><br /><i>Instead, he forces Conan out, </i><br /><br />Forces? He says they offered him back 11:30. Maybe he&#39;s lying. But I don&#39;t know. And neither do you.<br /><br />But let&#39;s consider how Letterman got his NBC show in the first place. Did he not &quot;force&quot; Tom Snyder out?!<br /><br />No one&#39;s hands are completely clean here.Dave Tnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-55938171647970286062010-01-20T12:12:37.815-05:002010-01-20T12:12:37.815-05:00Unless Leno invested with Bernie Madoff, he should...Unless Leno invested with Bernie Madoff, he should be fine. And perhaps he should be spending some of that money on meds to cure his paranoia. What a freakshow!<br /><br />Captcha: &quot;dilisto&quot; = Spanish version of the D-Listdeznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-55409457457179460542010-01-20T11:51:28.853-05:002010-01-20T11:51:28.853-05:00Leno is paranoid when it comes to money. He showe...Leno is paranoid when it comes to money. He showed up at one point in Seinfeld&#39;s Comedian documentary and said that he had never touched the money NBC had paid him. He lives off his appearance fees. Seinfeld was incredulous, but Leno said he worries all the time about being fired and that he wants to save his money.paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-64834413660421773822010-01-20T11:42:53.533-05:002010-01-20T11:42:53.533-05:00I would like to hear more about how Leno thinks he...I would like to hear more about how Leno thinks he&#39;ll go broke if he retires. Doesn&#39;t he have.....like hundreds of millions in the bank? I can&#39;t imagine spending a few of those millions a year on cars would put him in the poor house.Kimo C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-63881491149720864912010-01-20T10:31:42.394-05:002010-01-20T10:31:42.394-05:00Depending on that, it could limit the motivation f...<i>Depending on that, it could limit the motivation for Conan to go on Letterman.</i><br /><br />Unless his sings the disparagement :-) Or he could go on with Ricky Gervais and let Ricky &quot;go mental&quot; and translate for him.deznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-21010480285966634742010-01-20T09:58:19.384-05:002010-01-20T09:58:19.384-05:00I&#39;m not a Seacrest fan in that he&#39;s so bla...I&#39;m not a Seacrest fan in that he&#39;s so bland that he&#39;s practically nonexistent. However, he seems to know how to pick projects that succeed, he has a lot of name recognition, and he might draw a younger demographic. He was even smart enough to get attached to the New Year&#39;s Eve thing so he can be thought of as &quot;the next Dick Clark.&quot; I don&#39;t think him taking over the Tonight Show is farfetched if Idol is no longer on the air at that point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-82155986844363893932010-01-20T09:40:16.076-05:002010-01-20T09:40:16.076-05:00What disaster will NBC cook up to entertain us at ...What disaster will NBC cook up to entertain us at next summer&#39;s TCA?Karen Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00682865423142612687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-46980004812972856002010-01-20T09:36:03.297-05:002010-01-20T09:36:03.297-05:00Jay Leno proves that you don&#39;t have to be funn...Jay Leno proves that you don&#39;t have to be funny to host a successful show at 11:35 pm. What Seacrest has is likeability and just enough of an edge to be more interesting than you&#39;d think he is.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02113168955236758821noreply@blogger.com